Organized Chaos
by 42Nico
Summary: It all started with a fried tempura. (Lord knows Midorima sucked at cooking, and it just happened that the girl next to him was a master chef at mixing up the perfect flavor for ruin and chaos.) [Midorima, OC.]


**Organized Chaos**

**.**

2:30 in the afternoon was Midorima Shintarou's most dreaded time for the whole day.

It wasn't because of Math, Science, English or any complicated subject. Hell, he was goddamn _good_ at those- getting the highest of grades in those subjects was as easy as making a three-point shot in the courts. Of course, he worked hard for them- he still lived by his motto, which is "Man proposes, God disposes." Studying was his first and foremost priority as a student, and to top it all off, his good fortune and lucky items would help him boost them up, but as he stood among his fellow classmates, he could already feel gravity on his hands as he held his white apron between them.

You see, today was the beginning of their cooking class, and Midorima didn't want to admit that he wasn't as adept as any normal person would be when it came to this kind of stuff. It was very hard to believe in it after he tried so, so _many_ times to not get his toast burn like charcoal. And how did his fried eggs even manage to taste like rock when he did exactly what his mother told him to? His own orange juice tasted like he put vinegar in it when he definitely did _not. _

Truly, it was painful to admit that Midorima had no absolute talent in cooking, and he wanted to close his ears to the dreadful sound of his imminent failure.

"Hey, Shin-chan, you look pale," Takao Kazunari, his classmate and teammate remarked with a grin. "What, getting worked up over cooking? Might lose a finger or two?"

A vein popped on Midorima's forehead. "Shut up, Takao."

The dark-haired male kept his goofy grin. "Seriously, though, you look pale, man. Something happened?"

"It's nothing. Leave me alone."

Takao chuckled. "Alrighty, then! If cooking scares you like that, I shall stay here!"

Apparently, Midorima thought, annoying him was this guy's favorite past time, and it was something he could never stop. He was already agitated about their cooking class, and Takao wasn't helping at all.

Ah, how could he survive through this?

Their teacher started pairing them up. Fortunately for him, Midorima didn't get to partner up with Takao. He ended up with a seemingly normal girl, which was fine, he guessed. He didn't want to partner up with some overly enthusiastic type or an utterly uncaring one.

Maybe with his cooking skills (if one could consider them as _real _skills), he could work with her properly.

_Maybe_.

When they got to their working station together, the girl put her apron on. Midorima followed her lead, and just as she gave the green-haired man a glance, she said, "Ah, you're just like how '_nii-chan _described you."

To that, Midorima raised an eyebrow in confusion. _'Nii-chan...?' _"What are you talking about?"

"Ah, it's nothing important," she turned away. "Anyway, _sensei_'s about to start now."

Although Midorima wanted to know who she was talking about, he eventually shrugged it off. Maybe it was really nothing important. He couldn't care less about her or her brother, who were both technically strangers. He should just mind his own business and focus on this horrific of a class.

After their instructor laid out the rules and instructions, he announced that they would be making shrimp tempura.

'_A surprisingly easy one.'_

Still, a small bead of sweat rolled off Midorima's face. With all the boiling hot oil around, this would be quite dangerous. One wrong move might cost him something he could never repay for, and he might get himself taken into custody in the age of sixteen. He had to be careful, he told himself. Very, _very _careful.

'_Just calm down. Everything's going to be alright. This will eventually end.'_

"Hey, let's get going. We're only going to make tempura," the girl - _'What is her name again?' _\- cut through his thoughts. "Here!" She tossed the bag of marinade to him and said, "Open that, get two cups of it, and put them into that bowl."

Oh, that was quite simple. He'd just open this bag of powder, use the nearby cup to scoop some of its contents and put them into that gray bowl. He could definitely handle that.

As the girl started heating up the pan, Midorima opened up the bag using a pair of scissors. Carefully, he grabbed the cup, got the powder, and transferred it into the container_. _

A sense of relief washed over Midorima. That went well. No unnecessary mistakes or accidents like getting his finger cut or dropping the cup onto the floor. He did get some powder on his fingers, but that was it. No heavy damages.

Well, maybe this would actually go smoothly. Cancers got first place today anyway. Moreover, his lucky item - a white hand glove, to be exact - had done a great job improving his good fortune all the way to the peak of a mountain. _Truly, _Oha-Asa would never let him down. He could proceed cooking with full confidence.

"Next is this," his partner gave him a bottle of soy sauce. "Put three spoonfuls of that into the bowl."

"Alright."

**.**

Fifteen minutes passed, and the mix for the shrimp was ready. The girl - Midorima still didn't know what her name was - just dipped the shrimps into the bowl with the use of chopsticks. The bespectacled male watched her closely - from the very start and up to this part, the way she handled the materials in such a calm and nonchalant manner seemed like she was quite experienced at cooking. Her movements were almost as natural as that of a professional chef like she had been practicing this recipe in the whole duration of her life. One could also really tell she was enjoying this moment of her showing her talent to everyone, and she was proud of what she was doing.

He didn't want to admit this, but Midorima actually felt he was lucky to have her as his partner for this class.

"Alright, this should be done soon," the girl said and straightened up. "I'll start frying it now."

Carefully, she brought out a shrimp covered with the mix. She put a hand underneath it to catch the droplets coming from the shrimp and walked towards the pan. Midorima was confident that the class would go smoothly according to plan; that this girl would not make any sort of mistakes, but-

Why did God have to prove him wrong about everything when it came to _cooking?_

Midorima witnessed how his hopes burned down together- when she was about to put it into the heated oil, the girl accidentally tripped on her slippers which caused her to suddenly drop the shrimp into the pan like tossing a coin into a pool of lava. The oil then started sizzling wildly, and it splattered right across her hands. Hurt by the sudden contact, she immediately backed away from the pan as she fanned out her hands in pain and panic. When he noticed her slipper was actually broken and she was about to slip again, Midorima grabbed her arm, but it was all too late- the girl ended up landing her hand on a chopping board that launched the cabbage on it into the boiling oil. Then, a huge fire broke out from the the pan, and the next thing Midorima knew was the people around him was screaming and running away in fear of getting burned alive.

Except for the girl. She didn't scream nor did she run away. She remained beside him- his hand was still gripping her arm as she held onto his shirt tightly. Silently, the two of them watched as a couple of students and their teacher put out the fire using a fire extinguisher while their classmates cower in underneath the tables.

But, in that moment, the pair had a common thought.

'_Ah, so much for a tempura.'_

* * *

Classes already ended, and the unnamed girl was still in the infirmary. She had to skip the rest of her classes for that afternoon since she needed to get her hand treated. It was pretty bad - even though it would heal in a few weeks, the oil would leave a scar on her hand which almost looked like it was striped. Surprisingly, she was pretty calm about the whole situation- from the immense pain to the treating process, she only showed signs of discomfort for a few, countable times.

But somehow, it made Midorima feel frustrated. He was supposedly her partner, and he didn't even get reprimanded or anything. She was the one who was badly hurt- she even got her hand scarred. He could've at least get scolded for his own carelessness and lack of cooperation, but she took all the blame to herself.

Why did she even do that?

When he got to the nurse's office, Midorima found the girl sitting on one of the beds in the room. Her ponytail was gone now- her hair was down, and he couldn't quite make out her face. He only recognized her through the flowery apron she was wearing and how she seemed like she was staring the bandages around her hand.

'_What is she doing...?'_

Just then, she started taking them off. When none of them were left, the scar came into view, and it looked very prominent on that pale skin of hers. She raised her left hand to get a clearer view, and her reddish brown eyes became more noticeable with the sun standing right beside them. She kept it up in mid-air, and after a few seconds of gazing at the stripes on her skin, she let out a small laugh.

After witnessing how she simply laughed at the scar on her left hand, Midorima remained standing at the doorway.

'_What an idiot.'_

"Your hand will not heal properly if you take those bandages off."

Surprised by Midorima's voice, the girl turned her head towards the entrance of the room. The green-haired man pushed his glasses back before he headed to the nearby medical kit. After he got some bandages, he approached the girl, and gently, Midorima took her hand in his.

"Don't make any unnecessary movements," he said and sat beside her.

Confusion could be seen on the the girl's face, he could tell, but she replied with a shrug and let him do the job. Taking the response as a 'yes', Midorima then proceeded to wrap the bandages around her burn scar.

As he worked on her hand, silence filled the air. He started to notice his surroundings - the sound of the clock inside the room was getting annoyingly louder and louder as each second passed by. What was that all about? With his hearing, it sounded very, _very _unnerving- since when did clocks become this irritating? And what was it with this awkward silence between them anyway?

"So you're actually concerned about me, huh?"

At her sudden statement, the bespectacled male almost dropped the bandage. Midorima kept his cool- he turned to the girl and said, "Idiot. It's not like I'm doing this out of concern. I'm merely doing this as... payback."

"Nah, I think you're just being kind to me."

Annoyed, a vein popped on his forehead. "I told you, didn't I? I'm doing this because-"

"Oh!" a familiar voice cut him off. "Captain, look, look! Shin-chan's putting on the moves on your sister!"

"_What?!"_

Yet again, another vein in his head popped. Midorima didn't need to turn back- from the misleading comment and that stupid laugh that came after, he definitely knew who it was. But, other than that-

Was his hearing failing now, or did he say _captain?_

"Taiga!"

All of a sudden, Otsubo Taisuke rushed into the room and ran towards the girls. When he found Midorima wrapping bandages around her hand, the tall man smiled at her for a second before he-

"_Ouch!_ That hurt, 'nii-chan!"

He just gave her a light punch on her head, and the girl was now cowering in fear and pain.

"You almost set the school on fire!" Otsubo yelled in anger. "You don't even know how to cook!"

After hearing the first sentence, the bespectacled man paused. _Wait, wait_, did he hear that right? All this time, she didn't know what to do...? Then-

If she didn't know how to cook, and Midorima, a man with the cooking skills of a cat, was partnered up with her for the rest of the year, there would be a great chance that he would surely and undeniably fail their class.

As the realization of his impending failure which was now clearer than ever before, the sound of the loud gong of a bell rang in his ears. Midorima turned towards the girl-

_No, _Otsubo Taiga - he finally found out her name - smiled like the thought of her causing a building to set on fire was one of the greatest accomplishments in her life.

Midorima Shintarou's soul faded away into the universe above.

**.**

* * *

**A/N: **HAHAHAHA I'M SORRY

(Your thoughts, please? **_THANKS ILY_**)

* * *

In other news, **_Nico made a poll on his profile. Please do check it out! Thank you very much!_**


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